Aston Villa v Reading Post-Match Thread

[brontebilly]

Weimann gives his all and gets into good positions but dont think he has the quality to be a regular in a decent EPL side. Think Gabby has been playing poorly for a few weeks now. Both could really be dropped. Is Carruthers or some other kid ready to come in and play wide for a few games?

Bannan forced it too much tonight but at least he was trying to do the right thing like getting on the ball and trying to find a colleague to feet

We desperately need better quality players to be brought in during the transfer window. The bench tonight had the likes of Lichaj, Delph and Albrighton who arent going to improve matters either

[wombat]

Utter relief at the win, if we can conjure something up at the weekend down at the tax avoiders that'll help massively.

I can see what people are saying about Bent and getting a goal. The problem is with the system we are playing there isn't any room for him. He would be at best an ornament attempting to play the role that Benteke has and doesn't have the work rate to do the jobs that Weimann or Gabby are playing and it wouldn't be much use playing him in that withdrawn a role either. If he is going to play then you've got to get him and Benteke playing together.... which means doing away with a midfielder and given how weak our midfield is I don't think we will be seeing Mr Bent anytime soon. Personally it wouldn't surprise me to see him out of the door in January.

As for the match... mentions for Guzan, the back four. Westwood for finally telling Bannan bollocks i'm taking the corner and putting a decent flat cross in and Benteke for finally heading it in the right direction! I'm not sure what Lambert sees in Bannan and Albrighton personally but there we go i'm not in charge (thankfully!).

[Matt C]

A game we desperately needed to win and we won, that's the main thing.

It was a nervy game with both sides desperate not to make mistakes and you could feel the VP tension as the second half wore on from 5,500 miles away. It wasnt pretty at times but we created enough chances to have won. Westwood & Benteke stood out, both look like fine players in the making. Ireland made a difference when he came on. Credit to the defence - cant have played 50 PL games between them but they did alright.

[Matt Collins]

I thought bannan's corners were very good last night. We should have scored twice from them. He was a bit enfuriating, but he was progressive in his passing. He's certainly playing several levels above albrighton. I'd love it if albrighton could come roaring back but I suspect he's finished at tha level. I just don't see what qualities he really has, now that the surprise factor has gone and he no longer seems able to cross.

[Steve R]

Sorry if it has been mentioned earlier but this was our youngest ever PL team. The back four in particular are inexperienced - average age just over 22, average number of PL appearances less than 20.

We got a clean sheet and won the game.

It wasn't a great game by any means, or a particularly good performance. We will get better.

We do need upgrades and will in all probability see some in January. I don't expect Lambert to go all O'Neill and suddenly decide to buy every clapped out plodder who appears on the market.

It still feels like we are laying foundations for a good squad to develop. Poor game or not, it feels a world apart from last year and different to anything we have done for quite a while.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I also thought Roberts was best player on pitch, why wasn't Ireland playing. I'm just relieved

[frank black]

I thought bannan's corners were very good last night. We should have scored twice from them. He was a bit enfuriating, but he was progressive in his passing. He's certainly playing several levels above albrighton. I'd love it if albrighton could come roaring back but I suspect he's finished at tha level. I just don't see what qualities he really has, now that the surprise factor has gone and he no longer seems able to cross.

I could be wrong, but didn't we score off the only corner he didn't take.

[CJ]

Forgot to mention last night - great to see Martin Laursen in the Sky commentary box.  He acknowledged a rousing chorus of 'one Martin Laursen' from the Holte near the end of the game - how we could do with him in the team right now!

[PaulTheVillan]

I thought bannan's corners were very good last night. We should have scored twice from them. He was a bit enfuriating, but he was progressive in his passing. He's certainly playing several levels above albrighton. I'd love it if albrighton could come roaring back but I suspect he's finished at tha level. I just don't see what qualities he really has, now that the surprise factor has gone and he no longer seems able to cross.

I could be wrong, but didn't we score off the only corner he didn't take.

I think it was the only corner we had from the right hand side which Westwood took.

[eastie]

Really would like to see bent on the bench at least and also Carruthers- albrighton seems to have lost his way and Carruthers offers far more than him.

[nigel]

Reading set themselves up to frustrate us, try not to lose and maybe even nick one towards the end. But even nicking one disappeared when Roberts was taken off
Thought the crowd were pretty good last night. A performance like that last season would have been met with boo's mixed with silence.
That was a young, inexperienced team out there last night, guys. The nerves were there and got clearer the longer the game went.
If ever we needed that 'early goal' to settle us down it was last night.
Thought Baker was probably my pick, don't think I've seen him have a poor game at center back. Stevens, again, was doing okay, until his injury.

[caster troy]

I thought it was fitting that we scored a 'Martin Laursen' goal in front of him, great to get the chance to give him that reception at the end.

Would agree with a lot of people on here, yes it was a poor performance but it was the youngest team we've ever fielded in the Prem, and we were under a lot of pressure. In fact you could say that we had to beat Reading and Sunderland and we did, so criticism seems harsh.

Lambert will have learnt a lot these past few months and should know now where to strengthen. The spine of the team looks ok, some specialist wide forwards would be useful as to be fair Gabby and Weimann are strikers.

[fbriai]

Sorry if it has been mentioned earlier but this was our youngest ever PL team. The back four in particular are inexperienced - average age just over 22, average number of PL appearances less than 20.

Does anyone know whether it was the youngest PL team ever for any side?

[LeeB]

I thought bannan's corners were very good last night. We should have scored twice from them. He was a bit enfuriating, but he was progressive in his passing. He's certainly playing several levels above albrighton. I'd love it if albrighton could come roaring back but I suspect he's finished at tha level. I just don't see what qualities he really has, now that the surprise factor has gone and he no longer seems able to cross.

I could be wrong, but didn't we score off the only corner he didn't take.

I think it was the only corner we had from the right hand side which Westwood took.

It wasn't because I was moaning in the first half about Bannan out swinging one which was easily cleared.

[eastie]

Strange kind of flat feeling after winning such a vital game, very disappointed with last nights performance after the effort put in against the gunners.

We can't seem to play well more than 2 games in a row but lets hope we can go to qpr and get a win, we are only 3 points off the top 10 so there are a few teams being pulled into the scrap now .

Ultimately the result was the most important thing and the win was vital.